


Meant to Be

by Foreversfangirl



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Child Death, Death, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Spencer is a good egg, kind of sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 00:59:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9692588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foreversfangirl/pseuds/Foreversfangirl
Summary: The reader and Spencer have seen each other in passing at their favorite book store for years, a bad day brings them together at last





	

Meant to Be 

You had seen him on many occasions at this store, browsing through books in the foreign language and nonfiction sections. He recognized you, and would give you slight smiles and waves when you happened to be there at the same time. You returned the favor kindly, and always wondered about who he was. 

In your mind, everyone has a story. And everyone's story is different and can be learned from. You often wondered what his story was. Where did he come from? What does he like about the books he reads? Does he take sugar in his coffee? What makes him happy, what makes him sad? What's his story? 

On this particular day, your story gained a few more hard lessons. And while you tried very hard to maintain grace, you eventually found that you could not contain your feelings. 

Blindly you ran to the store, one of the few places you felt happy and safe. Tears in your eyes, and too much on your mind you didn't see the man coming out the door as you ran in. 

Crashing into one another, caused you to fall back onto your backside. And he, to drop all of his books and his wallet. 

"Woah, oh my god I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" He asked. He climbed up from his knees where he had fallen. 

It was all too much, you began to cry. 

"Hey hey hey, I'm sorry. Please don't cry. Let me help you up," he said, offering you a hand. 

You took it, and drew in a deep breath trying to calm yourself. 

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm having a truly horrible day," you explained.

"And I just made it, worse," the man said "I'll pay to replace your dress and tights," he said gesturing to your torn tights and muddied dress. 

"That's very kind of you," you sniffed. Feeling a bit overwhelmed "but it was my fault, no need to do anything like that," 

"Please, at least let me get you a cup of coffee. Or something. I feel awful for ruining your dress and making your day worse," he ventured. 

You considered this for a moment. 

"It would be nice to have someone to sit with for a little while," you said. 

The man beamed, and went to open the door for you. 

The two of you sat at one of the low tables in the lounge of this bookstore coffee shop. 

"You know," he started "I see you here all the time. It's been over two years, and we have yet to introduce ourselves," 

You laughed a little bit, "That's true. I never knew what to call you when I did see you," 

"Spencer Reid," he said offering his hand to shake. 

"(Y/n) (L/n)," you shook his hand. 

The waitress brought over your coffees, and you thanked her kindly. 

You watched Spencer put four packets of sugar into his coffee. 

"Forgive me," he said "I've built up a tolerance to caffeine. I need the extra sugar for it to have any effect," 

You laughed lightly 

"I'm somewhat weak when it comes to coffee," you admitted. "I love it, but if I have too much... oh boy I'm a jittery mess" 

He laughed at your jest, and you felt a sense of warm comfort from it. 

By the time your coffees were drained, you knew many things about your evening companion. 

He is from Las Vegas, and is beyond smart. He speaks three languages, two of which you speak. But he reads about eight. Four of which you speak. He likes Sci Fi, and Halloween. And can tell you facts on any topic under the sun! 

After a time, the conversation dies down. He casts a glance at you, and asks the million dollar question. 

"Can I ask you why you had such a terrible day?" 

"I'm not sure you want to hear something so unpleasant," you admitted. 

He let out a small sigh, "You don't know this about me, but I deal with unpleasant situations for a living," 

"Are you a cop or a doctor or something?" You asked. 

"Yes to both, kind of," he laughed "I am a doctor. But my PhD's are in Chemistry, Engineering, and Mathematics. I work for the FBI. But. We aren't talking about me right now. You were very upset when you came here today. What happened?" 

"Wow... FBI.... that's super cool," you said nodding in approval. "Well...." and so you began to tell him. 

You told him that you taught a children's ballet class on weekends, just for fun and to pick up some extra cash. You had been a dancer in high school and college. 

Recently one of your regular students hadn't been coming to class. And then yesterday morning, you got a phone call from the girls mother. 

She told you, her daughter was diagnosed with a late stage of leukemia. There was nothing that could be done at this point, except pain management for the time being. 

The little girl, asked her mother if she could see her dance teacher before the inevitable happened. Because she wanted to hear the end of the ballet they were learning in class. 

At this point tears began to well in your eyes once again, and you wiped them with your sleeve. 

Spencer reached his hand across the table, and placed his hand on top of yours. He waited for you to be ready to continue. 

When you got there, the little girl looked very small and very sick. But none the less, you sat with her for a while, and told her the story of the ballet you had been teaching her. 

As you continued the story, the little girl started looking very pale and meek. All of the sudden, before you even finished the story her eyes glazed over and her head fell into the pillow. The heart monitor made the loud flatlining noise. The girl's mother and nurses came running into the room. 

You didn't know what to do, you stood up and backed away from the bed. But suddenly couldn't move your feet. The breath caught in your chest, and you could feel the room get very cold. 

After a time, a nurse led you out of the room, and had you sit on a chair. You came back into reality, and moved with purpose. You could not stay in that building. 

Back at home you thought it all over, and rationalized it as this. It was hard. And it was sad. But it was what she wanted. You had made her happy in her final moments. And she was a happy child in her last months. You would have to hold that close. 

But today, at the dance studio the girl's mother came in. And she was angry. 

"She said some very hurtful things. And I know she's just grieving. But they were true, and I just needed to be some place safe," 

"What did she say?" He asked. 

"She said it was wrong that I was in the room when her daughter died, and she wasn't. She said I will never understand her pain. I will never understand what I took away from her. She said, I am too old to be teaching ballet. And if I have no one at my age, then I've already missed my chance," you couldn't stop the tears spilling over your cheeks. Before he could say anything you continued on.

"She's right. I'm 34 years old. I'm not married. I have no children. I will never truly understand what she went through. And she will never get closure. I took that away from her," 

He was silent for a moment. 

But then, he rubbed your hands with his thumbs.

"(Y/n), you did a good thing. You made that little girl happy in her final moments. There's nothing more noble in this world that that," 

"Then why do I feel so tangled up inside?" 

"Because loss is hard. Especially the loss of a child. But you're gonna be okay. And she is going to be okay. And eventually, even her mother will be okay," 

You smiled. He had actually managed to quell the stormy feeling you had been carrying around all day. 

"Thank you," you said, squeezing his hands gently. 

"I'm sorry you had a shit day, but I'm glad it prompted us to finally speak to each other," he said

"Maybe it was meant to be," you mused "it was about time after all these years I learn your real name," 

"I'll be honest with you here, I made a up name to call you when I saw you in the store. I wasn't even close," he laughed. 

"If it makes you feel any better, I did too," you giggled.


End file.
